Guilty plea in Nevada-based telemarketing scam targeting elderly

Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt announced that Emmanuel D. Ford, 39, pleaded guilty for his role in a telemarketing scam targeting the elderly.

Ford pleaded guilty to one count of multiple transactions involving fraud or deceit and one count of theft, both category “B” felonies. The frauds were committed between April 2013 and March 2014, the Nevada attorney general’s office announced this week.

Ford operated a telemarketing business in Las Vegas under the company names of North Lake Consulting, Inc., Bakersfield Marketing and Management Inc., Downline Marketing and Training, Inc., and Dream Marketing and SEO Inc.

Ford, either personally or by the acts of his co-conspirators, solicited individuals to invest in a web-based business they represented as profitable, the attorney general’s office said.

“He made these representations knowing that the individuals solicited would not in fact profit from their investments,” the office said in a statement.

As a result, Ford will be ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $136,628.41 to the named victims.

“My office is dedicated to protecting the most vulnerable among us,” Laxalt said. “Telemarketers who prey on our elderly populations deserve to be brought to justice, and I’m proud to send a strong message of deterrence to those who engage in these illegal telemarketing activities.”

The charge of multiple transactions involving fraud or deceit is punishable by 12 to 240 months of imprisonment, and the theft charge is punishable by 12 to 120 months of imprisonment. The sentencing hearing for the defendant is scheduled for Dec. 3 in the Eighth Judicial District Court.

This case was investigated by the office of the Nevada attorney general and is being prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Alissa Engler.